Art Honor Society Members Collaborate with Third Graders
January 18, 2024
About 15 workers toiled for most of Saturday, cleaning the bleachers, wall padding, floor and basketball backboards and installing black base molding and silver door saddles. The final base moldings will be put in place on Monday night.
Art Honor Society Members Collaborate with Third Graders
Washington Primary School graduates returned to their alma mater as members of Huntington High School’s Art Honor Society to collaborate with art teacher Nicholas Matarazzo and his third grade students on a shared project.
Accompanied by art teachers Jennifer Fazin and Kristen Fiorenti, who serve as the Art Honor Society’s co-faculty advisors, the high school students strode into Washington for a day of artistic collaborative learning.
“This experience is indicative of the lifelong learning community we have in Huntington,” Washington Principal Michelle Richards said. “Throughout the years, Washington Primary School has collaborated with the Spanish Honor Society to provide translation support at Back to School Night and the Art Honor Society to decorate the hallways for our book fairs.”
Art Honor Society members were tasked with creating a layout for a 3-D sculpture based on notable artist Keith Haring, that would be created and executed by the Washington third graders in Mr. Matarazzo’s classes.
Each third grade class had one student, whose name was selected out of a hat, serve as the model for the 3D sculpture. The student was traced before the class worked together to color each section of the body.
While they youngsters weren’t coloring in the outline they were working on making their own little Keith Haring pictures to be posted in the background of the project.
As the third grade students were working they were able to talk with Art Honor Society members Toni Reyes-Sorto, Layna Abraham, Keysy Diaz Campos, Carolina Ramos Saravia, Anibella Fazin, Eoin Charles, Juan Erazo Turcios and Julia Richards. The youngsters asked the teenagers questions and quickly built relationships with them.
“Seeing my students’ smiles light up the room when the high school students were helping them do the project is what this is all about; creating a memory they will hold with them forever,” Mr. Matarazzo said.
Organizers of the collaboration were pleased with how it went. “The third grade students clearly surpassed my expectations of their hand skills and creative ability,” Mrs. Fazin said. “The classroom was filled with excitement. It was an honor to watch the bonds grow not only with the two age groups of students but also with my colleagues. This was a true collaboration on so many levels.”
The sculpture will be on display at the district art show, which is slated for May in the high school gym.
Huntington High School video broadcasting program students Enrique Mancia and Anastasia Sarducci covered the event.
